Sermons

February 27, 2011

It has been a while since I spoke at a Sunday morning at Eighth Day, so I am glad to take the opportunity to do so this morning. Over the last year or two, I have been doing a lot of reading, studying and thinking about our Christian faith and I want to share some of that with you. I see this more as a focused sharing rather than as a formal teaching.

The scripture that I have chosen to use, which is the basis of my speaking to you, is from the 46th psalm, the first part of the 10th verse, King James Version. It is a short, but, in my opinion, powerful passage. You see it whenever you visit the retreat center at Dayspring. It is simply this: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

February 13, 2011

Today I want to talk about a word – a very popular word – at least according to Google! This word is the name of many diverse institutions … the name of an Alpaca Farm in Fredericksburg, VA, an Arabian horse ranch, a mortgage corporation up in Baltimore, an internet service, a photography studio, a dance studio (“dance makes a difference”), a landscape business, a Bed and Breakfast, an auto repair shop, any number of churches, camps, choirs and other musical groups, a publishing company, music publishing company, retirement communities, a radio network, and most important of all – the name my favorite peanut butter. It is a word used frequently as a Christian meditation mantra or prayer word for those recovering evangelicals who are still a bit afraid of the east – a prayer word, by, by the way, which we were actually encouraged to use in this very service a few weeks ago.

February 6, 2011

Isaiah 58:1-12
Matthew 5:13-20

To help us keep Jesus’ teaching about salt and light in context, notice that it immediately follows the Beatitudes—and specifically the part where Jesus said ‘you are blessed when you are persecuted and insulted and lied about in an evil manner simply because you follow Jesus.’ The “you” here is plural. All of us together, suffering together, is a blessing. Suffering alone—not so great. But suffering together, Jesus says, is like getting some good news! Eternal blessing lies ahead! So it is a privilege to live a Way together that puts us into a different rhythm from the world’s rhythm, to do what we couldn’t do alone—to align our lives with God’s holy adventure described by Isaiah as one having such distinguishing marks as ending oppression and injustice and restoring the streets of our cities so that they, too, will be in alignment with the all-encompassing vision of God. And when we live this way of blessing, we are given the awesome privilege of suffering.

January 30, 2011

We've talked a good deal in this community about empire.  We've found considerable insight in scripture and current literature that challenges the dominant consciousness of our day: its militarism, consumerism, individualism, and idolatry of money, prestige, and power.  This has given our community a foundation on which we've worked to build an alternative vision of peace, solidarity with the oppressed, downward mobility, ecological sanity and community.

January 9, 2011

INTRODUCTION

·        Quite often Gail ArnalL – one of my great role models -- and I talk about the joy and fulfillment we find in giving away money.  When she asked me if I’d do a teaching today on giving, I immediately thought about the connection with Epiphany, which was on Thursday.  This is the story we heard from Matthew – when Jesus was revealed to the magi.

December 19, 2010

Text:Matthew 1:18-25 (The Message)

The Birth of Jesus

 18-19The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

 20-23While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins."

December 12, 2010

Hark to the herald that the angels sing:  Glory to the newborn king. 
Peace on Earth, mercy mild, God and Sinners are reconciled. 
Joyful, All Ye Nations Rise!  Join the triumph of the Skies! 
With Angelic Hosts proclaim, Christ is Born in Bethlehem!

As I was preparing myself for today I did some research about Advent, and I learned that, centuries ago, the Advent season began with a period of penitence and fasting.  In fact, the use of purple during the weeks leading up to Christmas was meant to create a visual connection between Advent and Lent, between Jesus’ birth and his death.  

December 5, 2010
Text: Matthew 3:1-12 

John, the Baptizer, was a man of the earth, clothed in elements of the earth, taking sustenance from the earth.  From the scripture’s description of him, he seems not to have been one to put on airs. He wasn’t invested in “social networking” or “moving on up.” He wasn’t trying to impress folks, yet something about his manner drew people to him—from the rural areas and the city, temple insiders as well as outsiders. Why did they come? His message was not the ever-popular “God wants you to feel good about yourself/you’re better than you think you are and deserve ever-increasing bounty/God loves you just the way you are.”

Part 3

November 28, 2010

Text: II Corinthians 5:14-21

My vision is 8th Day Church as a place of theological excitement. My vision is 8th Day Church alive with theological excitement. My vision is Fred Taylor alive with theological excitement.

What do I mean by theological excitement? First let me describe what I see as its absence. Here I see no height or depth but middle stuff. What shall we eat? What shall we wear? With whom, of the people we already know, shall we spend our time? What shall we talk about? This time will it be politics or sports or family news or the latest gossip? Middle stuff is predictable.

Part 2

November 21, 2010

Texts: Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
II Cor. 3:1-6

This is my second of three sermons on the strange God of the Bible. By strange I am referring to God as other. By other I mean other than our culture, other than our psychology, other than our politics, and other than our theology. What I am being cautious about is becoming overly familiar with God. As I said last week, every time I think I have God figured out, something presents itself that jars or even shatters my certainty.

In this sermon series I want to lay out, as best I can, how God in Jesus Christ gives us deep confidence toward the one God of the universe who is simultaneously both part of us and other than us. This is a paradox – God being part of us and other than us. This is what makes the Gospel difficult to grasp. That is why I requested this opportunity to preach for three straight Sundays to establish some building blocks for understanding this paradox which is at the heart of the Christian Gospel.